Bloomberg Seeks to Ban Cigarette Displays in NYC’s Stores

By Esmé E. Deprez -
Mar 18, 2013

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for
legislation to make New York the first U.S. city to require
stores to conceal tobacco products, a week after a court struck
down his ban on the sale of large sugary beverages.

Bloomberg’s latest health initiative would mandate that
tobacco products such as cigarettes be kept in cabinets,
drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in any other
concealed location. It wouldn’t pertain to advertising, leading
a spokesman for the state’s convenience stores to question its
logic and effectiveness.

The measure is scheduled to be introduced at the mayor’s
request by Democratic City Council member Maria del Carmen
Arroyo, chairwoman of the Health Committee, on March 20,
according to a statement. A companion bill would combat illegal
cigarette smuggling. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said
at a news briefing that she is “very, very open” to the
changes.

“New York City has dramatically lowered our smoking rate,
but even one new smoker is one too many,” Bloomberg, 71, said
at a press briefing today at a Queens hospital, according to a
statement. “Young people are targets of marketing, and the
availability of cigarettes and this legislation will help
prevent another generation from the ill health and shorter life
expectancy that comes with smoking.”

Health Initiatives

Since taking office in 2002, Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent, has pushed public-health programs, both as a
philanthropist and as mayor in control of a $1.5 billion-a-year
health department. He’s banned artery-clogging trans-fat food
additives and required restaurant chains to post the calorie
content of menu items. Anti-smoking initiatives have been a
constant theme, including higher tobacco taxes and bans on
smoking in restaurants and bars, public parks and beaches.

The latest tobacco proposal is “absurd,” said Jim Calvin,
president of the Albany-based New York Association of
Convenience Stores, whose 1,600 members are scattered throughout
the state.

“Retailers have a fundamental right to communicate with
their customers about what they sell by displaying those
products,” said Calvin. He questioned why the law would ban the
display of tobacco products but not advertising, and said its
passage could further push cigarette sales to the black market,
depriving stores of sales and the city and state of tax revenue.

‘Far-Fetched’

“I’m disputing the far-fetched assumption that because
young people see a product in a store, the sight of it compels
them to start smoking,” he said. “Many of our stores are
licensed to sell beer. Does the sight of it encourage underage
drinking? The sight of lottery tickets to gamble? The sale of
condoms to engage in premarital sex?”

The city’s anti-smoking campaign has helped decrease the
smoking rate in adults to 14.8 percent in 2011 from 21.5 percent
in 2002, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley has said. In
December, Bloomberg announced that city residents’ life
expectancy rose to a record high of 80.9 years for babies born
in 2010, 2.2 years more than the national average. The death
rate from heart disease fell by 27.1 percent from 2001, partly
because of a 30 percent drop in the number of smokers, according
to city officials.

Legal Setback

Still, smoking remains the leading preventable cause of
death among New Yorkers, killing 7,000 annually, and youth
smoking rates have remained stuck at 8.5 percent since 2007,
according to Farley.

One of Bloomberg’s most high-profile attempts to improve
health through public policy was recently met with defeat. On
March 11, New York Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling barred
the sugary beverage proposal from becoming law, saying it had
too many loopholes and violated the jurisdiction of the City
Council. The city has appealed the decision.

The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg
News parent Bloomberg LP. He is prevented by law from seeking a
fourth four-year term.